Road construction season slowing in Lake, Geauga counties

By
Betsy Scott, The News-Herald

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

The 2013 construction season included a major milestone for Lake County motorists.
It spelled the end of the $181 million Route 2 modernization and lane-widening project, begun in 2007. The final phase of the Ohio Department of Transportation project wraps up this month, aside from a few minor operations not anticipated to affect traffic.
The work was in answer to traffic volumes more than doubling in the region since the corridor was built in the 1960s, said Molly Leonard, an ODOT District 12 public information officer.
“With the completion of the Phase III State Route 2 major rehabilitation project, motorists will now be able to utilize the addition of the third lane between State Route 306 and State Route 44 in the cities of Mentor and Painesville and Painesville Township to improve travel times,” Leonard said. The first two phases spanned from the Cuyahoga County line to Route 306.
Other high-profile state projects completed, or nearly so, in the area this construction season are:
-- Heisley Road bridge deck replacement — $1.7 million. Remaining minor operations may require temporary lane closures on the bridge over Route 2 in Mentor.
-- Route 322 resurfacing — $1.7 million, in Geauga County between Route 608 and the Ashtabula County line
-- Route 87 resurfacing — $1.6 million, in Geauga County between Berkshire Industrial Park Road and the Trumbull County line. Traffic will be maintained with flaggers during minor operations that remain.
The Heisley Road bridge work generated the most constituent comments and questions, mainly from motorists and business owners inquiring about the status of the project and its completion date, Leonard said.
One mammoth project that will continue in the offseason is the major pavement reconstruction and bridge work along Interstate 90.
In mid-December, crews plan to shift traffic into its normal configuration for the winter months. However, minor operations that aren’t weather-dependent will take place. Travelers are expected to be minimally affected, Leonard said.
The I-90 project — totaling more than $91 million — began in April 2010 between Paine Road and the Ashtabula County line and is targeted to finish between Paine and Morley Road in August.
The Lake County Engineer’s Office reports completion of more than $2.6 million worth of work this season, including the Leroy Township roundabout, Mountain Park Bridge pavement improvements in Concord Township, Blase Nemeth Road widening in Painesville Township and Redbird Road improvements in Madison Township.
“All four projects were safety related,” said Bruce R. Landeg, chief deputy engineer/chief surveyor. “Blase Nemeth and Redbird projects resulted in wider driving lanes with a paved shoulder. Mountain Park also included a bridge rehabilitation repairing the structure to accommodate legal loads (40 tons).”
Phase III of Redbird is scheduled for July. No work is expected during the winter.
Ninety-five percent of the projects bid in 2013 for Geauga County and its 16 townships are complete, said Frank Antenucci, Geauga County Engineer’s Office administrator.
No work is scheduled this winter.
“Between all the road improvement projects completed… it is anticipated that over $9.5 million will have been invested into the Geauga County and township roadways to improve the safety and maintain the integrity thereof,” Antenucci said.
All projects are funded either by federal, Ohio Public Works Commission or local moneys — often a combination.
Some of the notables include the widening and resurfacing of Shedd Road, the improvement of the Newcomb Road Bridge, Auburn Road resurfacing and Woodin Road reconstruction.
The city of Mentor had a busy construction season, between planning for the long-awaited Plaza Boulevard Extension — $2.5 million construction job is to begin in February — and completing the Munson Road resurfacing, Station Street resurfacing and drainage improvements, the Hoose Road/Kings Hollow/King Memorial Road resurfacing and culvert replacement, and about $871,000 in repaving of or concrete repairs to 40 local streets.
“Pavement conditions are improving citywide resulting in better travel conditions and generally happier motorists,” Mentor Engineer Dave Swiger said.
A joint project with ODOT and the cities of Mentor, Willoughby and Kirtland resurfaced Route 306 from Willoughby-Kirtland Road north past Lakeland Community College to Route 84.
“This project will significantly help traffic flow by dedicating two southbound left-turn lanes into Lakeland Community College and an additional left-turn lane into Willo Hill School,” Kirtland Engineer Phil Kiefer said.